I started this journey as a mother. I felt there was no push for the creative arts at schools and everyone were focusing on STEM subjects. There were children coming from different backgronds who did not have the role models neither the opportunities to explore the arts.
I started offering creative competitions and workshops with primary and secondary school aged children. By holding these competitions, the winners attended my fashion shows and photoshoots. For some children this completely transformed their vision and I hope inspired them to dream big, irrespective of what background they came from.
Recently a 16 year old boy was waitressing at a restaurant, he approached me and said that he remembers me from the time I visited his school. He said he was inspired by my work and wanted to go into the creative arts.
I will never forget that day when a 9 year old child came to me and said that my creative workshop was the best day of his school life. These moments makes me feel that not enough is done to inspire the children at school and we only need to plant a seed to let the flower bloom in all it’s glory.
As a business woman, I am aware of the lack of leadership and financial literacy amongst adults. The high rise of debt in our community as a result of deeper unresolved issues, as well as a lack of know how of how to manage our personal finance, is crippling our communities and affecting our mental health. With this mind, I am working with financial experts to roll out a financial literacy and leadership workshops at schools.
Finally, I am particularly interested in children who come from less privileged backgrounds and do not have the role models at home – who have attended universities. For them it is a challenge to reach university as hardships and financial constraints tend to hold them back. I hope by the TBI competitions and workshops at schools we can inspire the next generation to break this cycle of inequality, class barriers and poverty.